Sunday, June 14, 2015

Indonesia’s History of Fruits, Carved in Stone

Indonesia’s History of Fruits, Carved in Stone

In Indonesian
art, the fruit motif appears in various forms. It may have appeared in various
geometric textile or woodcarving motifs across the archipelago. However, due to
the rather plain circular or rounded forms of fruits, its depiction in the
geometric patterns in textiles, the fruit motif is not readily or easily
recognized.

The fruits themselves are often used
as the main elements of decoration. The decorations of the main entrances to
wedding venues are supposed toconsist
of various fruit and vegetable arrangements, including pisang raja, kelapa gading,
kluwih, and nanas. In Bali, the towering offerings that women carry on their
heads to the temples,consist of fruit
such as manggis, jambu, sawo, salak,
jeruk, pisang, mangga and even jeruk
Bali and semangka.

The clearest depiction of fruits are in the stone
carvings of Java and Bali. The famous Buddhist stupa-temple Borobudur are
filled with relief panels that include depictions of fruit and fruit-trees.

While some reliefs of the Borobudur
are renditions of idealized figures, artifacts, and environments, many reliefs
are derived from actual natural environments. Hence, many of the plants motifs
on the reliefs can be identified. Cammerloher (1931) identified seven types of
fruit trees: banana, mango, durian, nangka, coconut, pinang and lontar.

The banana tree is identified from
the long and slender shape of its leafs. Its leafs portrayed in a unique
circular pattern, the mango is recognizable from the comma-like shape of its
fruit. The large durian and nangka are easily identifiable from their fruit
shapes.

According to the shape of their
leafs, the three types of palm found on the relief of the Borobudur can be
divided into two types. In the “feather” shaped leaf group, the fruit of the
Areca palm is much smaller thanthe
large round fruit of the coconut. Meanwhile, the palmyra palm can be recognized
from the characteristic “fan” shape of its leaf.

A relief on the Borobudur (1 Ba 196)
shows two monkeys congregating beneath a mango tree. One of the monkeys sits
with two mangoes in his hands, while the other seems to offer him a bowl of
mangoes.

Fruits also appear as part of
offerings on the reliefs of the Borobudur. One famous relief, Borobudur shows a
stupa honored with offerings of incense, fruits and flowers (II 96). The fruits
on this relief are shown merely using circular shapes of different sizes,
without any attempt of depicting a particular kind.

In Mendut, a smaller temple near and
believed to be related to the Borobudur there are also a number of reliefs that
include depictions of fruit. On the left wall in front of the entranceway to
the inner chamber of a famous panel depicts Hariti, a child devourer turned
protector of children.

The tree, near which Hariti sits,
has large and ripe fruit—which appear to be mango. The children are shown
playing around the tree; one boy can be seen sitting in one of the tree
branches while another attempts to climb the tree. To Hariti’s left, another
tree, which have leafs similar in shape to the one on the other side of the
panel, is filled with many small round fruit. A boy can be seen picking fruits
of this tree and handing them to another who is climbing the tree, while
another supports him. The tree and the fruits they bear in this relief, seem to
be not merely pictorial in nature, but appear to have some symbolic
significance. It seems like the tree represents the aura of Hariti’s
compasssion which brings prosperity to the environment.

Fruits also appear frequently in the
famous Rama reliefs of the Prambanan. One relief shows Rama displaying his
omnipotence by shooting an arrow striking a row of seven coconut trees, a scene
matching the relief of Sakyamuni on the Lalitavistara series of the Borobudur.
Although overall the panel seems quite refined, the sculptor whimsically
includes a touch of humor into the scene. The trees, arranged in a tight linear
cluster, seem squat in appearance. Each are characterized using different stem
patterns, and six bird stands on top of the leafs of the trees. Meanwhile, a
squirrel attempts to climb the branch of the first tree in the row.

Art historian Thomas Hunter relates
the scene to verses 157-8 of the Sixth Canto of the Kakawin Ramayana:

"He
(Sugriwa) wished to know about the power of Lord Rama,

Wise
was he, Raghusuta (=Rama), and shot straight through tal trees

The
number of those pierced by his arrow was seven tal(=lontar) (trees)

Sugriwa
was amazed as he looked at the tal trees."

Hunter went on
to predict that the Borobudur scene is a likely source of inspiration for the
Prambanan scene, which in turn may have found its way into the Kakawin, but
refrains from drawing a definitive conclusion before a much more thorough
research is conducted.

The manggis is seen in many
indonesian artifacts, including Javanese gold. Often featured in sirih sets
prepared as bridal gifts, it is said that manggis
is considered a fruit that does not lie. The number of inner segments of the
manggis always correspond to the number of hard petal-like marks which appear
on the bottom of the fruit. Due to its inherent "honesty", the manggis serves an appropriate symbol of
auspicous contract.

In support of this notion, the
figure of Bima, portrayed in the Candi Sukuh, wears manggis shaped earings,
symbolic of his frank and honest character.Hardjonagoro remarked that the manggis fruit
represents integrity. Like the Dwiwarna, the national “Two-Colored” flag of
Indonesia, the dark red rind of the fruit symbolizes brevity, while its white
flesh symbolizes purity.

The depiction of fruits in the art
of Indonesia, particularly of Java, are often not merely decorative in
presence. In many cases, they contain symbolic significance, perhaps meant as reminder of humankind’s most revered
characters. Although many of the pieces have been carved in stone, quietly much
can be learned from them.